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RAMALLAH: Palestinians in the West Bank and central Gaza voted on Saturday in municipal elections, the first since the war in Gaza erupted, with low early turnout and a limited political field. Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission. Early AFP footage from Al-Bireh in the West Bank and Deir el-Balah showed voters trickling into the polling stations. By late morning, voter turnout was strikingly low at 15 percent, rising to 24.53 percent by 1 pm (1000 GMT), the election commission said. An AFP journalist reported near empty stations across parts of the West Bank, even as foreign diplomats made their rounds to observe the process. Speaking to reporters, Election Commission chief Rami Hamdallah urged all voters to head to the ballot boxes, “given how important this is for our Palestinian people”. READ MORE: Israeli fire kills five in Gaza and the West Bank After voting in Al-Bireh, Khalid Eid said he hoped for change in council composition. “We must see change every four years through elections… We can’t change the situation but we hope to replace people… people who might be better and help develop the community,” the 55-year-old told AFP . Most electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement or are composed of independents. EU hails vote Hamas, Fatah’s bitter rival and the ruling power in Gaza, is absent from the race. In many municipalities, Fatah backed lists face off against independents supported by smaller factions such as the Marxist Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Some aspiring candidates complained they were prevented from participating. The head of one list, Mohammad Dweikat of Nablus, told AFP some candidates on his ticket were detained until after registration closed. READ MORE: Spain urges EU to end association agreement with Israel Municipal councils oversee water, sanitation, and local infrastructure but do not enact legislation. Still, with presidential or legislative elections frozen since 2006, councils have become one of the last remaining democratic mechanisms under the Palestinian Authority. The PA faces widespread criticism over corruption, stagnation and declining legitimacy. Western and regional donors have increasingly tied financial and diplomatic support for the PA to visible reform, particularly in local governance. The European Union called the vote an “important step towards broader democratisation and strengthened local governance … in line with the ongoing reforms process”. ‘Strong determination’ Polling in the West Bank ends at 7 pm. In Deir el-Balah stations close at 5 pm to facilitate counting in daylight because of the lack of electricity in the war-devastated strip, the elections commission told AFP . READ MORE: Gaza aid flotilla aims to break Israeli blockade Two years of Israeli aggression that started in October 2023 have left swathes of Gaza destroyed and more than 72,000 people dead, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Public infrastructure, sanitation services and the health sector are all struggling to function. Gaza, under Hamas control since 2007, is seeing its first vote since legislative elections in 2006 that Hamas won. The PA is holding elections only in Deir el-Balah to test its “success or failure, since there are no post-war opinion polls”, Jamal al-Fadi, a political scientist at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, told AFP . Deir el Balah was chosen as it is one of the few areas where the population has not been massively displaced, he said. After voting there, Mohammed al-Hasayna, 24, said that although the elections were largely symbolic, they served as a sign of people’s “will to live”. “We are an educated people with strong determination, and we deserve to have our own state,” he told AFP . “We want the world to help us overcome the catastrophe of war. Enough wars – it is time to work towards rebuilding Gaza.”
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